Folding iPhone may use Samsung's crease-proof screen instead of custom Apple design
Despite reportedly developing its own design for an iPhone Fold screen that does not crease, Apple is again said to be using one developed by Samsung Display.
Render of a possible iPhone Fold - Source AppleInsider
In February 2025, it was reported that Apple had significantly improved on previous folding screens and how they normally form a clear crease after continued use. Now analyst Ming-Chi Kuo backs up the claim that Apple has its own design, but says the firm won't be using it.
Specifically, in a note on his blog, Kuo says that Apple is now expected to use Samsung Display's design in order to ensure mass production can begin on schedule to launch the iPhone fold in the second half of 2026.
That timetable does fit with recent reports that the iPhone fold will go into manufacturing in summer 2026. While Kuo doesn't specify a launch date for the iPhone fold, it's presumably September 2026, alongside the rest of Apple's iPhone 18 range -- unless Apple splits its iPhone launch.
Kuo also does not say, but arguably implies, that the Samsung Display screen is an existing design. An existing Samsung screen would already be a known and tested commodity, making it a safer bet for mass production.
If it's an entirely new Samsung design made for the iPhone fold, it's hard to see any benefit over Apple's own new design. Conceivably Apple's new design is delayed or in some other way insufficient for manufacturing, but Kuo does not say this.
The crease-proof screen was surely, though, going to be a strong and perhaps unique selling point for Apple. It might justify how the firm has failed to release a folding device when Samsung launched its first back in 2019.
Kuo does, though, describe that the Samsung Display design as being a "crease-free display solution." He also says that the design specifically prevents creasing by keeping the screen from being bent beyond its limits.
That sounds like it will prevent misuse, but doesn't speak to how the screen will work under regular use.
Kuo's report follows one from April 2025 where it was claimed that Apple had settled on using Samsung Display for manufacturing the screen. However, that report was chiefly concerned with how Apple had considering different production partners, rather than necessarily using any design other than its own.
Most recently, it was reported that Samsung was building a new factory exclusively for producing iPhone fold screens.
Rumor Score: Likely
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Well..... Apple could have launched their foldable phones much earlier...
If the delay of Apple´s new design is the reason for using Samsung´s inhouse design, it is a shame for Apple that Apple delays Siri, HW design and and and.
Says you?
”If the delay…it’s a shame”
Condemning Apple for a rumor, twisting and then running even further with it “and and and”.
Oh good god, SMH.
We are supposed to believe here that Apple is in such a rush to get out a phone design that has no use case beyond novelty, and no evidence of some sort of pent-up demand that they are going to punt an in-house "creaseless" design and use whatever crap Samsung has on hand, just so they can hit a release date? That is profoundly nuts. Never mind Ming Chi Kuo's dicey and disintegrating track record. What is there in Apple's track record that would suggest they would ever take this approach to releasing a "new" product?
Sorry kids. This is not going to happen.
Samsung wasn’t keen on using Tandem OLED for the M4 iPad Pro, so Apple went ahead and got LG, the creators of Tandem OLED, to make 3/4 of all iPad screens in the current generation that Apple wanted to make. Samsung probably dragged its feet because they didn’t have their own market to sell the more expensive Tandem OLED screens into unlike Apple. A similar situation exists with 5K monitors in the PC world, which is standardized on low-level 4K monitors. 5K monitors in the PC world are expensive and rare, so whatever curated display Apple is using with the dreaded crease will be better and more expensive than the competition, or what would be the point? (Jerryriggedeverything and iFixit however are going to have a field day upon release).
Let’s stick to the cold, dusty facts.
Samsung has been flogging its folding phone for the past three years at a generous price point of $2,000. And where do these cutting-edge marvels reside? Locked behind glass cabinets at every major retailer I frequent—strategically placed right by the entrance for maximum visibility. You know, in case someone mistakes them for art installations. Despite the security, one thing still gets in: dust. Lots of it. These phones have been collecting it like they’re in a long-term relationship with neglect.
Now, imagine you're Samsung. You’ve poured years of R&D, marketing bravado, and PR spin into this thing. You manufacture components in bulk because surely the orders will flood in once people get wind of your sci-fi screen flipper. And then… crickets. Not a flood, not even a trickle. More like an accidental drip from a leaky tap.
So what do you do with warehouses full of unused folding screens? Enter Apple, stage left. “Hey,” they say, “we’re thinking about a folding phone.” And Samsung’s like: “Hallelujah, sweet redemption! We’ve been waiting for this moment. Take all the folding screens you want—we’ve got enough to wallpaper the moon.”
But here's the head-scratcher: Apple, smart as it is, somehow believes it can charge $2500 (because, you know, Apple tax) for a folding phone when Samsung couldn’t move theirs at $2000. I have a sneaking suspicion the same marketing guru who dreamt up the $3,500 Vision Pro price tag is behind this one too. “Why price something sensibly when you can make it aspirational?”
And if you still think folding phones are the future, just sashay over to the Google Store. Yep, they’ve got one too. Spoiler alert: it’s not exactly setting the world on fire either.
In summary: folding phones — the mullets of mobile tech. Novelty up front, disappointment in the back.
anyway, I would not even look at any of these foldable phone if thee is a visible crease. That would be extremely irritating.
but if they have solved that, awesome. But I reckon a foldable iPad might be even better.
This is what Apple is actually going to sell, if they sell a folding device. Making a large iPad more portable is an actual use case that doesn't bring the baggage that a folding iPhone would. There's no need for a screen outside the fold. The iPad can still use the same aspect ratio for the folding screen. Users wouldn't stress the iPad by compulsively folding and unfolding it hundreds of times a day to check social media or whatever.
(Why don't I see anyone else complaining about how terrible AppleInsider forums have been for months/years? It can't just be me...constant timeouts and dropped connections.)
The forums are terrible.